Your report of Paula Milne's aspiration to remake Borgen for UK viewers (Political drama gets ready for a comeback, 26 October) neatly encapsulates the problem facing Scotland's independent programme producers. The obvious context would be the Scottish parliament – a small country with PR and the possibility of a maverick politician becoming "first" or indeed prime minister. But no UK broadcaster would dream of commissioning a political drama set north of the border for fear of alienating the audience and/or being seen to take a stance on the independence question. Reduced to relocating, however implausibly, shows like Waterloo Road to Glasgow in order to meet quota requirements, the BBC and other broadcasters have failed to commission serious drama from or set in Scotland. Shows like Case Histories or Hope Springs are about as close to "intelligent drama" as metrocentric commissioning editors and schedulers are prepared to go, maintaining Scotland's function in UK TV drama as occasional setting for urban crime scenes or quirky rural idylls. With control over their own broadcasting, there's a much higher chance that Scots would get their own Borgen, The Bridge or even Yes, First Minister.Professor Robin MacPhersonEdinburgh Napier University